Lock spindle construction



May 13, 1958 E. L. SCHLAGE ETAL 2,834,194

LOCK SPINDLE CONSTRUCTION Filed Aug. 6, 1956 3 Sheets-Sheet l I/WE/VTORS ERNEST L. SCHLAGE JOHN A. TORNOE ARM/N H. GREEN A T TORNEVS y 3,1958 E. L. SCHLAGE ETAL 2,834,194

- LOCK SPEfiDLE CQNSTRUCTION Filed Aug. 6, 1956 3 Sheets-Sheet 3INVENTORS ERNEST L. SCHLAGE JOHN A. TORNOE ARM/N H. GREEN A T TORNEYSUnited States Patent 2,834,194 LOCK SPINDLE coNs'rRUcTIoN Ernest L.Schiage, Burlingame, John Axel Tornoe, Redwood City, and Armin H. Green,San Mateo, Caliii, assignors to Schlage Lock Company, a corporationApplication August 6, 1956, Serial No. 602,253 4 Claims. (Cl. 70-146)This invention relates to door locks and more particularly to theconstruction of the outer knob spindle and its connection to theretractor which retracts the latch bolt.

In the type of door lock here illustrated there is an inner and an outerindependently operable knob spindle, and in the conventional case eachspindle carries a rollback member which engages a retractor. When eitherspindle is rotated in either direction its rollback member impartsmovement to the retractor, and as the retractor is connected to thelatch bolt the latter moves in unison and is retracted with relation tothe strike plate in the door frame. A pair of compression springs opposeretracting movement of the retractor and these springs serve twofunctions, first, that of returning the retractor to the outer orprojected position of the latch bolt, and second, that of returning thespindles and rollbacks to a normal, centered position. These springsthen maintain the retractor in engagement with the rollback members onthe knob spindles in order to accomplish the above two functions.

In locks of this type it is also customary to provide a means forlocking the outside knob spindle against rotation so as to preventoperating the latch from the outside. In some cases this is done byproviding a manually actuatable dog that dogs the outside knob spindleto the lock housing, and which dog is held in dogged position by a latchengaging the retractor. In such a case retraction of the retractor in anamount in the order of 4;" releases the latch and the dog is springurged to an inoperative position releasing the outer knob spindle.

It has been found that in the case of the conventional lock described,retraction of the retractor may be ac complished by an unauthorizedperson from the exterior side of the door, even though the outer knobspindle is dogged in locked condition, by imparting a sharp blow to theouter knob in the direction of projection of the latch. Since the knobspindles are supported in bearings there is always a slight clearance orplay in the bearings, particularly after some wear has taken place. Thisclearance permits the outer spindle to momentarily assume a slight anglewith relation to its normal axis of rotation when a sharp blow isimparted to the outer knob. Such blow will cause movement of therollback member at the inner end of the outer knob spindle which isthereby transmitted to the retractor with which it is in engagement.Although the movement of the roll back member caused by the blow may beonly 4 or less, it is sufficient to transmit a shock wave to theretractor of such force as to cause the latter to move toward its inneror retracted position sufficient to release the latch holding the dog inlocking relation with the outer spindle and thereby permitting openingof the door by rotation of the outer knob.

In some cases it has been found that sufiicient force can be transmittedto the retractor through the outer rollback members by means of a sharpblow on the outer 2,834,194 Patented May 13, 1958 knob spindle to causethe retractor to be fully retracted and thereby to retract the latchbolt clear of the strike plate. In this event it is obvious that thedoor they be opened even though the outer knob spindle may remain lockedwith respect to the housing.

It is an object of this invention to provide means for preventing thetransmission of the force of a sharp blow on the outer knob spindle ofthe lock of the class described to the retractor. I

Another object of this invention is the provision of means in a doorlock for isolating the outer knob spindle from the retractor againsttransmission of forces except by rotation of said outer knob spindle. I

Other objects and advantages will become apparent from the followingdescription taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, inwhich:

Fig. 1 is a horizontal longitudinal section of agdoor lock constructedin accordance with the preferred form of this invention, and showing themain parts of the mechanism;

Fig. 2 is a semi-diagrammatic view showing how a blow imparted to aconventional lock knob may be imparted to the retractor;

Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view on a reduced scale taken generallyalong line 3-3 of Fig. 1; I

Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view similar to Fig. 3, but showing the lockmechanism being operated by the outer knob;

Fig. 5 is a sectional view similar to Fig. 3, but showing the lockmechanism being operated by the key and lock cylinder;

Fig. 6 is an exploded perspective view of the outer lgnob spindle andthe rollback elements of the device of ig. l;

Fig. 7 is a cross-sectional view'similar to Fig. 3, but showing amodified form of the improved spindle and rollback construction of thisinvention; and, i

Fig. 8 is an exploded perspective view of the main parts of the modifiedform of Fig. 7.

In detail, referring to Fig. of this invention is illustrated lock ofthe cylindrical type.

1, the spindle construction in combination with a door A retractor,generally designated 5, is slidably mounted between a pair of thrustplates 6, 7 (Fig. 1) in housing engageable with a, lug 9 (Figs.

A portion of inner knob spindle 12. extends into lock housing 4 and isformed with a rollback member 20 which is in engagement with anintermediate thrust member 21 formed integrally with retractor 5 (Figs.1, 3-5). B-y'this means rotation of inner knob 16in either directionimparts retracting movement to retractor 5 in the usualmannertoslidesaid retractor to its inner position against the force ofsprings 10. Itwill be seen that once inner knob 16 is released from its rotatedposition springs urge retractor -5 to its outer position and at the sametime thrust member21 rotates spindle 12 through rollbackmemberZObacktoits normal, centered position. Since springs 10 urge retractor 5toward its outer positionat all times, thrust member 21 is at all timesin engagement with rollback member '20 and therefore spindle 12is alwayscentered at rest.

In previous lock construction it has been the practice to form theoutsideknob spindle 13 with a similar rollback member 22 (Fig. 2). Thisrollback 22 has similarly been held in engagement with retractor 5 atall times for the purposes of centeringroutside knob 17, as previouslydescribed with respect to inner knob 16. This prior construction has,however, resulted in a serious deficiency in the lock structure. It hasbeen found, for instance, that a certain amount of clearance or playmustbe-maintained between knob spindle 13 and its associated bearing 15in order that knob 17 may be easily operated. This clearance may, ofcourse, be increased due to wear between the spindle and bearing. Intests performed on the conventional structure indicated in Fig. 2 it hasbeen noted that a blow imparted to outer knob 17 in the direction of 23causes knob spindle 13to be tilted from its normal axis of rotation at24 to the position represented by dot-dash line 26 and a slightlyangularly disposed axis (Fig. 2). This tilting of knob 17 and spindle 13causes the conventional outer rollback member 22 to drive retractor 5 inthe direction of arrow 27 toward its inner position. Even though thetilting of knob 17 by a sharp blow results in only a slight movement ofthe rollback 22 the magnitude of the shock wave transmitted thereby toretractor '5 may be such as to drive said retractor'far enough towardits inner position (dotdash line 28) to retract latch bolt 2 clear ofthe strike plate in the door frame. In such an instance it is seen thatwith the conventional structure of Fig. 2 the door may be opened by anunauthorized person, even though knob 17 may be locked against rotation,by imparting a sharp blow to said knob.

Furthermore, it is not uncommon practice to provide means for lockingthe outside knob against rotation such as is illustrated in Fig. 1. Suchlocking mechanism may comprise a dog 31 which is adapted to enter a slot32 formed in the outer spindle 13. Dog 31 is formed at the inner end ofa bar 33 which extends longitudinally through the inner spindle 12 andis provided with a pushbutton 34 on its outer end operable from theexterior of knob 16. Intermediate its ends bar 33 is provided with alatch 35 adjacent a slide plate 36 of the retractor 5. The bar 19 isnormally maintained in the position shown in Fig. l, with pushbutton 34extending outwardly of inner knob 16, by means of a spring 29. However,if the button 34 is depressed, dog 31 enters a slot 37 formed in thehousing 4 as well as slot 32 in outer spindle 13, and the dog will beretained in this position as latch35 engages and is held by the innerface of sideplate 36. When dog 31 is held by latch 35 in this innerposition, it prevents rotation of outer spindle 13 by dogging togetherslots 32 and 37 formed in said outer spindle and the stationary housing4, respectively.

It will be noted, however, that bar 33 and dog 31 may be returned to theinoperative position shown in Fig. 1 by spring 29 upon retractingretractor 5 sufficiently to disengage plate 36 from latch 35. Thisamount of retraction of retractor 5 need only be of the order of at,"which, it has been found, can be easily trans- -mittedby-rappingthe-outer knob 17 of the construction shown in Fig.2. It isbecause of these difliculties with conventional construction that thedevice of this invention is provided.

In the preferred form of Figs. 1, 3, 4, 5, and 6, outer knob spindle 13is provided with an integral lug 38 extending axially into lock housing4 to a position spaced from the thrust member 21 of retractor 5. A pairof separate rollback elements 39, 40 (Figs. 1, 3) are interposed betweenopposite sides of lug 38 and thrust member 21. In eliect, lug 38 andelements 39, 40 appear similar to a single rollback member, such as 22,since said elements are held in engagement with thrust member 21 ofretractor 5 by spring 10.

Elements 39, 40 (Fig. 6) are formed as cars extending axially from apair of circular, centrally apertured discs 41, 42, respectively, whichare mounted in the inner end of knob spindle 13 for independent rotationabout the axis of said outer knob spindle. Discs 41, 42 are alsoprovided with radially extending shoulders 43, 44 respectively (Fig. 6)engageable by a lug 45 (Figs. 1, 3, 6) projecting axially into the lockhousing from the lock cylinder mechanism, generally designated 46 (Fig.1). As in a conventional lock, lug 45 may be rotated independently ofouter-knob spindle 13 by means of the correct key in the lock cylinder.It will be noted that discs 41, 42 are supported between the inner endof the lock cylinder mechanism and one of the sides of retractor 5.

Since neither the outer spindle lug 38 nor the lock cylinder lug 45engages the retractor 5 a sharp blow administered to the outer knob ofthe lock of this invention will not be transrnittedto said retractor asdescribed with reference-to Fig. 2.

The structure of thisinvention therefore overcomes the disadvantages ofconventional construction in this regard by isolating the retractor fromthis type of movement of the outer knob spindle. It will be noted,however, that rotational movement of outer knob spindle 13 istransmitted by the edges of lug 38 to either roll back element 39, 40(depending upon which way the outer spindle is turned) for retractingthe latch in the normal manner. Fig. 4 shows such normal retractiontaking place by retation of an unlocked outer knob spindle 13 in thedirection of roll back element 40.

Fig. 5 illustratesretraction of the latch bolt 2 by turning a key in thelock cylinder mechanism 46. Rotation of such mechanism causes lug 45 toengage either shoulder 43 or 44 (depending upon the direction ofrotation of the lock cylinder) to thereby rotate the corresponding discandits associated rollback element. It is seen in Fig. 5 that rotationof lug 45 causing rollback element 39 to urge retractor 5 to its innerposition does not disturb the position of the lug 38 onouter spindle 13.

The opposite sides of lug 38 and rollback elements 39, 40 are formed sothat they are in engagement in planes substantially parallel to the lineof action of retractor 5. As a consequence any tilting of outer spindle13, as previously described, may slightly separate lug 38 from roll backelements 39, 40 in the direction of the said line of action, but suchtilting movement cannot be transmitted to retractor S. In eifect,rollback elements 39, 40 and lug 38 are formed to provide means fortransmitting rotational motionfonly of outer spindle 13 to retractor 5.

It should be noted that the above-mentioned planes of engagement may beslantingly disposed so as to converge in the direction of the latch unit1, but that said planes may not diverge in such direction and still beefiective in not transmitting the movement occasioned by rapping theoutside knob to the retractor.

The modification of Figs. 7, 8 primarily comprises a dilferent mountingmeans for a pair of similar rollback elements 49, 59. Elements 49, 50are interposed between lug 38 on outer spindle 13 and the thrust memberof retractor 5, as in the preferred form. The surfaces of elements 49,50 that are in engagement with lug 38 are also in engagement with asimilar lug 51 (Figs. 7, 8) on the lock cylinder mechanism 46. Thesesurfaces of elements 49, 50 are, as in the previous case, lying inplanes substantially parallel to the line of action of retractor so thatany tilting movement of outer knob spindle 13, as by a sharp blowadministered to knob 17, is not transmitted through said elements toretractor 5. Likewise, lugs 38 and 51 are spaced from retractor 5 sothat no such movement can be imparted directly to retractor 5 throughsaid lugs.

Rollback elements 49, 50 are formed at right angles to a pair of arcuatebearing plates 52, 53, respectively. In place of the solid thrust plate6 of the previously described form of the invention, a composite thrustplate, generally designated 54 (Fig. 7), is made up of three individualplates 55, 56, 57 (Fig. 8). Plates 55, 57 are centrally apertured as at58, 59 for passing the inner end of outside knob spindle 13, as in aconventional case, and central plate 56 is provided with a circularopening 60 of greater diameter than apertures 58, 59. The bearing plates52, 53 of the rollback elements 49, 50 are of substantially the samethickness as plate 56 and are adapted to be received within opening 60and between plates 55, 57 when the three thrust plates are superimposedone over the other. In this manner elements 49, 50 are mounted forrotation about the axis of outside knob spindle 13 in tracks provided bythe space between said outer knob spindle and the confines of opening 60and bounded by plates 55, 57.

As previously explained, tilting knob spindle 13 from its longitudinalaxis will not transmit force from lugs 38 or 51 to retractor 5. However,rotation of either of said lugs by authorized means causes one of saidrollback elements 49, 50 (depending upon the direction of rotation ofsaid lugs) to rotate in its track and thereby urge retractor 5 towardthe inner or retracted position.

This modified form is then similar in operation to the preferred form inthat only rotational movement of outer spindle 13 or lock mechanism 46is transmitted to the retractor 5 through rollback elements 49, 50.

It will be noted in Fig. 3 that the lug 9 on the inner end of latch bar3 is spaced from the jaws 8 of retractor 5. This feature is provided ina lock of the type having a dead locking plunger 61 (Figs. 1, 3)incorporated in the latch unit 1. This plunger 61 is depressed by thestrike plate on the door frame and dogs the latch bolt againstunauthorized retraction by means of a thin card or blade being insertedbetween the door and frame to cam the latch bolt back. Means (not shown)are usually provided, however, within the latch unit 1 for uudogging thelatch bolt by a slight authorized retraction of latch bar 3 throughretractor 5.

'In the case of the conventional lock shown in Fig. 2 in which theoutside rollback 22 is in engagement with the retractor, it has beenfound possible to retract retractor 5 a sufiicient distance to performthe undogging operation by applying a pressure to the outside knob inthe direction of arrow 23 (Fig. 2). The provision of the spacing betweenjaws 8 and lug 9, however, prevents this result because initialretraction of the retractor does not then retract latch bar 3. Theconventional lock is therefore safeguarded against this type ofunauthorized entry by the spacing between the latch bar lug and theretractor jaws as shown in Fig. 3.

Although the invention has been described and illustrated in detail, itis obvious that further modifications that may occur to one skilled inthe art are within the spirit and scope of the invention.

We claim:

1. In a door lock having a bolt retractor slidably supported formovement from an outer position in which the bolt is projected to aninner position in which the bolt is retracted, spring means urging saidretractor to said outer position, and inside and outside knob spindlessupported for rotation about an axis independently of each other, andwherein said inside knob is provided with a roll back in engagement withsaid retractor for sliding said retractor toward said inner positionupon rotation of said inner spindle, the 7 provement comprising: a lugon said outside spindle extending axi-ally thereof into spaced relationwith said retractor, and a pair of separate rollback elements supportedfor rotation about-the axis of said spindle interposed between oppositesides of said lug and said retractor, said elements being in engagementwith said lug only in planes substantially parallel to the line ofmovement of said retractor, whereby movement of said lug toward saidretractor does not impart movement to said elements.

2. In a door lock having a bolt retractor slidably supported formovement from an outer position in which the bolt is projected to aninner position in which the bolt is retracted, spring means urging saidretractor to said outer position, and inside and outside knob spindlessupported for rotation about an axis independently of each other, andwherein said inside knob is provided with a roll back in engagement withsaid retractor for sliding said retractor toward said inner positionupon rotation of said inner spindle, the improvement comprising: a lugon said outside spindle extending axially thereof into spaced relationwith said retractor, a pair of separate rollback elements interposedbetween opposite sides of said lug and said retractor, said elementsbeing in engagement with said retractor and being in engagement withsaid lug only in planes substantially parallel to the line of movementof said retractor, and means supporting said elements for rotation aboutsaid axis, said supporting means including a pair of overlying discseach rigid with one of said elements and mounted for rotation about theaxis of said outside knob spindle adjacent the side of said retractor.

3. In a door lock having a bolt retractor slidably supported formovement from an outer position in which the bolt is projected to aninner position in which the bolt is retracted, spring means urging saidretractor to said outer position, and inside and outside knob spindlessupported for rotation about an axis independently of each other, andwherein said inside knob is provided with a rollback in engagement withsaid retractor for sliding said retractor toward said inner positionupon rotation of said inner spindle, the improvement comprising: a lugon said outside spindle extending axially thereof into spaced relationwith said retractor, a pair of separate rollback elements interposedbetween opposite sides of said lug and said retractor, said elementsbeing in engagement with said retractor and being in engagement withsaid lug only in planes substantially parallel to the line of movementof said retractor, and means supporting said elements for rotation aboutsaid axis, said supporting means including a pair of arcuately formedplates each rigid with one of said elements, and circular tracksreceiving said plates and formed concentric with said axis between theinner end of said outside knob spindle and said retractor.

4. In a door lock having a bolt retractor slidably supported formovement from an outer position in which the bolt is projected to aninner position in which the bolt is retracted, spring means urging saidretractor to said outer position, inside and outside knob spindlessupported for rotation about an axis independently of each other, and alock mechanism housed in said outside spindle and independentlyrotatable, and wherein said inside knob spindle is provided with arollback in engagement with said retractor for sliding said retractortoward said inner position upon rotation of said inner spindle, theimprovement comprising: a pair of lugs one on said outside spindle andone on said lock mechanism, respectively, extending axially thereof intospaced relation with said retractor, and a pair dfseparate-rollbackelements interposed between opposite sides misaiid lugs and saidretractor, said lugs andsaid elements being formed at their points ofengagement such that moving'saidlugs teward said inner position of said5 2'297077 retractor separates said lugs from said elements.

References Cited in-the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTSSchlage Nov. 13, 1928 Schlage Sept. 29,1942 Cerf N0v.'25, 1952

